President: Home minister was wrong to divulge private information, but he was forced to

Homeland Security Minister Ali Ihusan was wrong to divulge details of private messages between an 18-year-old university student and the police victim support service before she committed suicide, but he was forced to do it due to the circumstances, says President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu.

The young woman was found dead in her room on early April 21, at the Majudhudheen Dhanaal, the Maldives National University (MNU)’s dormitory in Male’. Allegations soon surfaced that she had contacted the police before committing suicide, but that the authorities failed to provide proper support.

At a press briefing two days later, Ihusan denied the allegations of negligence, and went on to share details of the communications the young woman had with the police victim support helpline on live TV.

The decision sparked immediate backlash, with many describing it as a grave breach of confidentiality, as well the dignity and rights of the young woman.

At his weekly press briefing on Monday morning, President Muizzu was questioned regarding what he thinks about how Ihusan dealt with the case, as well as how the police dealt with the case of a young woman who was found injured on the roof of a building in Male’ in April last year – when the police shared sensitive CCTV footage on live TV.

President Muizzu responded that the authorities had been “forced” to share information on both incidents “even to that extent.”

“But that’s not right. There should not be any disclosure even to that extent. The demand that comes from us is that someone did something wrong. The person in charge or the person working under them. Someone did something wrong. It is already decided from the onset that someone did something wrong,” he said.

President Muizzu said that this puts ordinary employees under added pressure, even if they did no wrong, and also puts their family in danger, resulting in “a very difficult situation.”

“Therefore, in the case of the girl, no information should have been shared that day. But because of the allegations against the employees involved, and especially because of the many allegations that were being spread on social media, the people involved shared very limited information,” he said.

“But that shouldn’t have been shared either. Its not right based on international standards. It’s not something people working in the profession can accept either. I, myself, do not believe it should have been handled this way,” he said.

Ihusan has not addressed concerns over how he divulged private and sensitive information during Thursday’s press conference.